Dance Class Reflection(Body, Effort, Shape and Space)
Within the past few days of being in Dance class, I have learnt a lot more about
how Dance is form of telling a story through movements. However as much as it tells
a story through movement, there is has to a structure of the dance from beginning
to end.
Alongside this understanding, I have learnt the physical characteristic known as
“Body” are one of the key features of dance as “Body” is used to show which parts
of the body are moving, how each body part impacts each other, the movement
patterns of the body and body shape-shifting. Within our dance sequences we often
utilise Slashes and Flicks for instance “When we balance on our knees and use
Staccato for the arms a lot of Slash is utilised there. Flick is used a lot in
moments where we extend our arms reaching out.
The second important feature of Dance is “Effort.”
This is describes the inner purpose or intention of the movement’s characteristics.
For example hitting someone and reaching out for help is similar due to them
involved the arm extending, however, the concentration of the strength in movement,
the control and timing of the two movements are different. This can be broken into
factors known as “Motion Factors” with “Action, Passion, Spell and Vision being key
drivers towards “Effort.” Alongside “Space, Weight, Time and Flow.” With in our
Dance Sequence we dance with a mixture of Passion Drive, Action Drive, Spell and
Vision. “To go more in depth the use of Passion Drive is used for the amount of
times we spin since our Weight is on our balancing foot either fast or slow with
little change in space and Flow is always light and smooth.”
The third important feature is “Shape.” This feature acts as the backbone of “Body”
as it showcases the way the body changes shape within the movement. There are many
factors that fall under “Shape” and those being: “Shape Flow”(The relationship of
the body to itself), “Directional”(The relationship of the body’s direction towards
some parts of the space. “Directional” is then divided into two parts, those being
“Spoke-like” and “Arc- Like). The next subcategory focus on “Carving.”(The
relationship in which the body is active in a 3- dimensional capacity). And last
subcategory is “Shape Qualities.”(relating the way the body is changing actively
towards a certain point in the space.) either growing larger with more extension or
growing smaller with more flexibility. This can be seen by 6 dimensions known as
“Rising, Sinking, Spreading, Enclosing, Advancing and Retreating.” For instance in
our dance sequence, our shapes are made by our arms and hands such as Rising and
Sinking as well as the test of our flexibility by balancing on our knees and slowly
leaning back.”
The last important feature is “Space,” which is described as the involvement of
motion in links with the background with dimensional patterns, pathways and lines
dimensional tension. All of this was described by Laban Movement Analysis(LMA) as a
complicated concept based on the many aspects including the structure of the human
body, with the intention of wanting to be harmonious, similar to how Music is often
harmonious. There are two types of choices that Space focuses on and those being:
“Kinesphere”(the space that the body is moving within and how the dancer is paying
attention to it) and “Spatial Intention”(The points or directions on space that the
dancer is seeing it using. Essentially we have to be either 2-D or 3-D or even both
of them for instance in our dance sequence we consistently switch between 2-D and
3-D while being aware of our surroundings, Pathway(Direction) and the people around
us.
Overall after learning about the Laban Movement or B.E.S.S and the concepts of this
movement, I’ve have come to an understanding of how much goes into a dance movement
from a movement that seems simple to a movement that looks complex. The most
important part of all is “Detail,” no matter how big or small Detail is the biggest
part of Dance.
